Kazimierz Jewish Quarter: which synagogues are open, what they charge, and what is closed on Saturdays

💡 The Short Version: The Remuh and Tempel synagogues take an entry donation of 10 PLN and are closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. The Old Synagogue on Szeroka Street is a museum, not a synagogue of the community: it costs 22 PLN, is free on Mondays and opens on Saturdays. The Galicia Jewish Museum is open every day at 35 PLN. The Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum are on the Kraków Card. Or book a tour: the Jewish Quarter and former ghetto tourad (from £14, 2.5 hours) is the guided walk.

The sights, compared

Entry amounts for the community’s synagogues are from the Jewish Community’s synagogues page, and the Old Synagogue’s price is from the Museum of Kraków. Prices are at about 5.15 PLN to the pound.

• Prayer comes first. The Remuh is the main synagogue of the Jewish Community, with daily prayers (Shacharit at 8:30), so visit after the service.
• Free Monday: the Old Synagogue is free on Mondays, and a ticket can be reserved in advance on free days.
• The Kraków Card covers the Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum once each. See the Kraków Card guide.
• Last entry at the Old Synagogue is 30 minutes before closing.

The Old Synagogue at Szeroka 24. Photo: C messier, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Tours worth paying for

The synagogues sell no timed ticket, so there is nothing to book ahead; a guided walk is the one thing to buy. The products below are on GetYourGuide. Prices are its lowest “from” prices, per person.

The Jewish Quarter and the former ghetto

From £14 · 4.8 stars from 1,911 reviews · 2.5 hours

Krakow: Jewish Quarter and Former Ghetto Tourad is a guided walk through Kazimierz and the history of its Jewish community, and the biggest Kazimierz product on GetYourGuide.

A shorter Kazimierz walk

From £20 · 4.8 stars from 624 reviews · 1.5 to 2 hours

Krakow: Kazimierz Jewish Quarter Walking Tourad covers Kazimierz alone, without the ghetto. The Galicia Jewish Museum also sells its own guided tours.

Szeroka Street in Kazimierz. Photo: Zygmunt Put, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What to see

The synagogues stand on and near Szeroka Street. Go in this order, and on a Saturday keep to the Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum, which are the two that are open.

1. The Old Synagogue (Szeroka 24). Building began in 1407, and it served as the central synagogue of Kraków’s Jews until the Second World War. It is a two-nave Gothic building, rebuilt after a fire in 1557, and its museum shows the history and culture of Jews in Kraków.
2. The Remuh Synagogue and cemetery (Szeroka 40). The synagogue was built about 1558 for the scholar Moses Isserles, known as the Remuh, who is buried in the cemetery beside it, founded in the middle of the 16th century. It is the community’s main synagogue and a place of prayer.
3. The Isaac Synagogue (Kupa 18). Opened in 1644, an early Baroque building with stucco on its vaults, with conservation work under way.
4. The Tempel Synagogue (Miodowa 24). Built from 1860 to 1862 in a neo-Renaissance style with Moorish elements, with stained glass at the turn of the 20th century and wall paintings of plant motifs.
5. The Galicia Jewish Museum (Dajwór 18). Open every day, and the place for the history of Jewish life in Galicia. It also runs city tours and visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The gate of the Remuh Synagogue at Szeroka 40. Photo: Zygmunt Put, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What to skip: the Isaac Synagogue, while conservation work is under way. The Remuh and the Old Synagogue are the two to keep if you have one morning.

Hours, rules and getting there

• Saturdays: the Remuh, Tempel and Isaac synagogues are closed all day. The Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum are open.
• Jewish holidays: the community’s synagogues are closed, and the Old Synagogue closes on some of them. Its closed days are in the table above.
• Getting there: tram 3, 9, 19, 24 or 50 from the city centre goes to the Miodowa stop, and the Galicia Jewish Museum is down ul. Dajwór from there.

The Podgórze ghetto guide covers the other side of the river, with the Eagle Pharmacy, Pomorska Street and Ghetto Heroes Square, and Schindler’s Factory is in Zabłocie. The Old Synagogue and the Galicia Jewish Museum are on the Kraków Card, and the Old Synagogue is free on Mondays in free museum days in Kraków. Wawel Castle is a short walk away, and museums in Kraków lists the rest. For the rest of the city’s bookings, see what to book before you go to Kraków. 3 days in Kraków and Kraków in one day put Kazimierz on a day that suits the Saturday closures. To sleep nearby, where to stay in Kraków compares the areas, and where to eat in Kraków lists places to eat. Kraków walking tours include Jewish Quarter walks. Kraków golf cart tours drive through the quarter, and Kraków food tours include walks that start in it.